This past week, wrestling fans had many different things to be thankful for! Although the action slowed down for many teams over the Thanksgiving holiday, the wrestling community had some great battles and dual meets to watch with their families.
One of the best events in collegiate wrestling went down in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, as Penn State hosted the 2023 NWCA All-Star Wrestling Classic. Some of the top-ranked wrestlers battled it out for a consensus #1 ranking, and pushed to make statements early on into the 2023-2024 season.
Following into the holiday weekend, the annual Cy-Hawk Dual was streamed live on ESPN for the entire world to get a glimpse of an awesome back-and-forth war through 10 matches. Although facing all kinds of adversity and changes, The Brands brothers and Hawkeyes prevailed against their rival and #8 ranked Iowa State.
Here is a recap of everything that happened in This Week In Wrestling:
ALL-STARS SHINE IN REC HALL
With a near sold-out crowd in Happy Valley, many Nittany Lion fans packed the bleachers to support their five wrestlers in competition. Those fans surely went home happy, as Van Ness, Starocci, Brooks, and Kerkvliet looked unstoppable in front of a home crowd.
Even without the showing of Levi Haines at 157-pounds, this Penn State team could easily go down as the best to ever do it. Starocci, Brooks, and Kerkvliet completely dominated each of their opponents, who were all ranked #2 in their weight class. Those three are on a completely different level than everyone else in the NCAA, and it’s hard to see a way all three of them don’t end the season without a gold plaque in their hands.
Going deeper into the Penn State lineup, fans missed out on the opportunity to get to see Levi Haines at the All-Star Classic. Set to face Arizona State’s Jacori Teemer, Haines was forced to pull out of the competition due to injury. Similar to Van Ness, Haines is on the brink of being the consensus #1 wrestler in the weight class, and was unfortunate to not see him face Teemer early on into the season. Both Haines and Van Ness are still very young into their college career, yet they both can easily win the title in March.
Also at the All-Star Classic, Purdue’s Matt Ramos and Lehigh’s Connor McGonagle get much-needed victories after suffering upset losses early into the season. After getting beat by NC State’s Jakob Camacho, Ramos rebounded by knocking off Lock Haven’s #1 Anthony Noto in a 10-2 victory. Ramos won nearly every scramble, and scored when he needed to defeat Noto.
HISTORY CONTINUES TO REPEAT
The Hawkeyes continue to dominate the Cy-Hawk Dual, now making it 19 straight victories for Iowa.
With the nation watching on ESPN, the sold-out Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa was rocking for an epic showdown between #5 Iowa and #8 Iowa State. It seemed that this could be the year that the Cyclones could break the winning streak for the Hawkeyes, and it came down to the wire in multiple matches that could have gone either way.
Iowa needs to be credited for the way they shifted their lineup in order to defeat the Cyclones in a close 18-14 victory. Brands decided to bump up freshman sensation Gabe Arnold to 184-pounds, who knocked off All-American and #6 Will Feldkamp for a crucial six point swing in the dual meet.
Although Iowa may have outsmarted Iowa State to get the matchups they needed, the Cyclone coaching staff shot themselves in the foot in multiple scenarios throughout the dual.
The biggest being at 141-pounds between #1 Real Woods and Anthony Echenmendia. Echemendia was able to keep the bout close on the feet the entire match, which was a part of his game plan all along. Echemendia thrived on the world scene, and needed to use his strengths on the feet and avoided going underneath Woods. Down 1-0 with short time, Echenmedia made a last second effort and nearly took down Woods before an apparent stoppage with 3 seconds left. It sure looked like a takedown, yet there was no challenge from the Cyclone corner which amazed me. With a chance to upset the #1 guy in the country and give your team a huge momentum shift, why in the world was the challenge not attested?
Later in the dual at 174-pounds between Iowa’s Patrick Kennedy and Iowa State’s MJ Gaitan, there was another coaching error by the Cyclones. In the third period, Gaitan had a chance to cut Kennedy for a chance at a final takedown in a barn-burner of a match, yet the Cyclone corner kept yelling at Gaitan to keep him down. Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser admitted that they made an error calculating the score and riding time, which eventually would lose Gaitan the bout.
Besides the Iowa State errors, the Hawkeyes won where they needed to. 125-pounds was a huge victory for Ayala, and Iowa needed that bout badly to hang in with the Cyclones. Ayala got the big upset over Terukina to start the night, and kept it rolling for the Hawkeyes.
UPSET TRACKER
#3 Matt Ramos (PUR) over #1 Anthony Noto (LHU), 10-2
Connor McGonagle (LU) over #6 Sam Latona (VT), 7-5
#6 Izzak Olejnik (OSU) over #4 Dean Hamiti (WIS), 8-2
#17 Drake Ayala (IOWA) over #8 Kysen Terukina (ISU), 7-2
#19 Evan Frost (SU) over #8 Brody Teske (IOWA), 8-1
#14 Casey Swiderski (ISU) over #9 Victor Voinovich (IOWA), 6-3
Gabe Arnold (IOWA) over #6 Will Feldkamp (ISU), 3-2
#22 Zach Glazier (IOWA) over #4 Julien Broderson (ISU), 7-3
#22 Tanner Jordan (SDSU) over #6 Patrick McKee (MINN), 9-4
#13 Michael Blockhus (MINN) over #11 Cael Swensen (SDSU), 7-4
Blaine Brenner (MINN) over #19 Tanner Cook (SDSU), 9-6
WHAT’S NEXT
Notable Tournaments:
Cliff Keen Invitational – 12/3
Patriot Open – 12/3
Notable Duals:
#18 Oklahoma vs. #3 Missouri – 12/1
#4 Iowa vs. Penn – 12/1
#20 Lehigh vs. #1 Penn State – 12/3
#18 Oklahoma vs. #21 West Virginia – 12/3
Illinois vs. #19 Pitt – 12/3
Indiana vs. Princeton – 12/3
Bucknell vs. #24 Wisconsin – 12/3
